


Big Brother

by axmaree



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), but mostly wind since this is about him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28174662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axmaree/pseuds/axmaree
Summary: Wind has always been the big brother... until now.And he doesn't know how to feel about it.Written for the Linked Universe Discord Zine
Comments: 6
Kudos: 123





	Big Brother

_ “Big brother!!!” _

Wind is used to that name, that title. He’s worn it like a badge since Aryll was born. For a lot of his childhood, it came with a sense of inflated pride. Yes, he  _ was _ the big brother. He  _ was  _ the oldest child on Outset Island. Some of the youngest even followed him around, his island’s very own universal Big Brother.

When his parents passed, the title became less a prideful badge and more a heavy responsibility. Suddenly, it was just him, his grandma, and Aryll. Aryll was too young to know what happened, and his grandma was getting so old. As the Big Brother, he knew that now it was up to him to protect his family… however well an eight-year-old could.

Big Brother became synonymous with Protector.

He taught Aryll to swim. He helped Aryll bandage her scrapes and cuts when she fell. He made sure she didn’t climb too high or swim too far. Every role his grandma could not fill, Wind did. Sure, they still fought like siblings, and bickered over stupid things. Sure, Wind may or may not have shoved Aryll off the pier and into the water in her favorite dress, causing her to cry and run to their grandma who then grounded him for a week… but he still took care of her. 

When the Helmaroc King took Aryll, a memory that still makes Wind’s blood boil and vision turn red, Wind had to rescue her. He had a mission now, one that would require him to leave the safety of his little island, leave behind his grandma, and sail into the unknown, armed with a sword he barely knew how to use and clothing that was way too warm. Aryll was in danger, Aryll needed his help, Aryll could be scared or hurt or all sorts of awful things. He had to get her back.

Big Brother became synonymous with Rescuer.

On his journey, he faced many, many,  _ many _ hardships. He sailed through murky waters and violent storms, bandaged countless wounds and bore through countless more. He blinked stinging sea water out of his eyes, stayed awake for endless nights, slept on salt-sanded wood when he could steal a few hours of rest. He fought, and fought, and  _ fought.  _ He fought until he could barely raise his sword to the grinning face of the enemy he’d only ever seen in mosaics. He fought until the lost kingdom of Hyrule sunk beneath the waves, taking his best friend with it.

And suddenly, Big Brother became synonymous with  _ Hero,  _ with  _ Legend,  _ with  _ Savior. _

With  _ Mourner. _

But he had his sister back, he had a pirate crew as a surrogate family and a restored hope in the future of his home. Even as he journeyed out, facing down even more hardships and the prospect of losing more friends, he had  _ hope.  _ Hope for a new Hyrule, that even Bellum couldn’t take away. 

Big Brother became synonymous with Adventurer.

Wind wore his titles with pride. Hero of the Winds felt just as important as Big Brother, because without his role as the Big Brother, he may have never become the Hero. They both became integral to his identity, two parts of his whole self he couldn’t live without. 

It helped that being the reborn Hero of Time came with some popularity points (though he tried not to brag).

Wind always made sure to play his roles—and their synonyms—properly. He came home to his family when he could and protected his people. He rescued those who needed his help and did his best to be the hero they expected. He adventured into the unknown, but still made sure to pay respects to the ones left behind. He formed his new identity around them, and did his best not to let the self-doubt and imposter syndrome creep in.

So when the dark swirling gate appeared, beckoning him into it, he had to go. Hero, Adventurer, Rescuer… it was time to play those roles. He stepped through the portal, into an unknown land with weirdly familiar faces. Turns out they were all him… go figure.

It was cool! Despite the weirdness of adventuring with eight other, slightly different versions of yourself, Wind enjoyed it. But something felt off. From the very moment they introduced themselves, something felt wrong, deep in the pit of his stomach. It was easy enough to ignore at first, but it gnawed on him, like an untreatable hunger, or that time he’d had a stomach bug when he was ten. The unease grew with each day, getting harder and harder to brush off.

It wasn’t until his second week with the other heroes that Wind realized what caused the feeling.

_ Little Brother. _

Wind was the youngest, the least experienced. Even with his two adventures—hefty and challenging in their own right!—he didn’t have the numbers, the  _ years _ , on the others. There was much to be learned by growing older, much he hadn’t learned yet. And, even though they all knew he’d faced down many challenges, they didn’t stop worrying about him.  _ Protecting  _ him.  _ Rescuing  _ him. Being the  _ Big Brothers. _

Wind felt sick, in the way one feels sick with anxiety that can’t be cured. How would he tell them? How would he explain to these heroes that his anxiety was caused by being treated like the  _ Little Brother, _ something they couldn’t really stop doing? Of course they would tell the shopkeepers they were brothers, of  _ course  _ Wind would be introduced as the Little Brother to make sure he could accompany whoever he was with at the time. But that didn’t stop it from hurting.

Wind was the Big Brother! The Protector! The Rescuer! The Hero! He wasn’t a Little Brother, he didn’t need saving, he could save himself, thank you very much. Tetra would lose her mind if she knew that suddenly he’d been thrust into the role of the littlest.

Would he be too sensitive if he complained about it? Childish? He had tried, once, when Wild jumped in front of a swinging sword and took a blow to the head to protect Wind. It hadn’t gone very well. The others had attempted to make a change, but their protective instincts were too strong. They fell right back into old habits just a few days later.

He took to action instead. If he couldn’t convince them with words, he’d prove it in his fighting. He fought with the grace and vigor of a well-trained warrior and the strategies of a pirate, pulling out moves that had even Warriors whistling in appreciation. While he may not have been the best swordsman or marksman on the team, he had the best balance—fighting on the open sea will do that to someone—and one of the most creative fighting styles. With each clap on the back from the others, Wind swelled with pride.

But it was in vain. No matter how hard he fought, he just couldn’t get them to change their attitude. Rather than developing a sort of respect for him, they treated him like proud older brothers. He was still their  _ Little Brother. _

Maybe he overreacted, but after weeks of this treatment, Warriors calling him “kiddo” was the final straw on an already overloaded pig’s back. Wind whirled on the older hero, throwing his bag to the ground as he shouted about how he  _ isn’t just a kid  _ and  _ is a hero too _ and countless other things that are already hard to remember.

He had stormed off, now standing a distance away from the camp, out of earshot of the others. He wasn’t sure if he wanted one of them to come after him or not.

Wind glared angrily at the rising moon. Here he was, acting like a little kid throwing a tantrum as he demanded to be treated older than he was. What kind of impression did that leave on the others? He was being stupid. He was about to turn back to the camp when a hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump.

“Hey, wanna talk?” Wild asked as Wind’s heart rate calmed down.

Wind nodded, choosing not to talk out of fear that his voice would come out higher pitched than normal. He didn’t want Wild to know how bad that had scared him.

Wild sat down on the hard earth, Wind joining him a few moments later. The older hero watched the moon, eyes soft in its light. Wind watched him, waiting for him to start the conversation.

“Frustrating, isn’t it? Feeling underestimated?”

Wind nodded.

Wild pursed his lips. “I used to underestimate myself a lot, y’know? Still do sometimes. It’s hard, having something forced on you when you don’t even know who you are.”

Wind just watched him, noting how Wild’s eyes glazed over as he talked. After a few moments, Wild shook his head as if to clear it. “Sorry, this isn’t about me.” He chuckled lightly before sighing. “But, Wind, I know how you feel, in a way. When I… woke up, sometimes it felt like people treated me as something… fragile. Easily breakable. People who had known me before sometimes walked on eggshells around me.” He glanced at Wind. “You try and prove yourself over and over, and it never feels like enough, yeah?”

Wind nodded, at a loss for words.

“I feel like that with the others sometimes, too. The team failure.” He chuckled, breathy, eyes closed against the moonlight. “What I’m trying to say is… Wind, you’ve proven yourself. Hylia, you’ve proven yourself ten times over. You remind me of myself at your age, at least what I remember of it, but… braver. More experienced. You have all the enthusiasm of someone your age, but all the wisdom of a warrior.”

Wind stared at Wild, mouth slightly open.

Wild turned to face him “When the others act more… protective around me, when I’m having flashbacks, is that them underestimating me?”

Wind shook his head.

“Same goes for you. For all of us. We protect each other, but we don’t underestimate each other.”

Wind swallowed. “I don’t know if I understand, I’m the  _ Little Brother— _ ”

Wild quickly grabbed his hands, cutting him off. “But that’s not a bad thing, Wind. You’re our brave, stupid, adventurous little brother. That doesn’t make you any less of a hero. You don’t always have to be the sole protector, or the one doing all the rescuing. We protect each other. We treat you like that because we  _ love you.” _

Like a dam breaking, Wind threw himself at Wild. Neither of them needed to say anything as Wind wrapped his arms around Wild, the comforting hug was more than enough to convey their meaning.

Sitting in the soft moonlight of some unknown land, wrapped in the comforting embrace of his _ Big Brother,  _ Wind realized he didn’t really mind his place in their group. He was a Protector. A Rescuer. A Hero. 

He was a  _ Little Brother. _

And he was okay with that. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this fic in my documents since August, so excited to finally post it when the zine came out, and now it's here! I've always had a lot of strong feelings about Wind's role within the team, and how he feels about being the youngest, and what better place to write about it than for the zine?
> 
> Thank you to all the lovely, incredible artists and authors that contributed to this zine, and a special shoutout to Sarah, the owner of the LU discord, for putting it all together. You guys made this possible.
> 
> For those who want to check out the zine, here's the link: https://indd.adobe.com/view/29e16180-892d-429c-98d1-39fcbcfe5c65 (might have to copy and paste it into your browser)


End file.
